Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
The Advent of Evolutionary
Naturalism
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)


Victorian biologist and
philosopher, Herbert
Spencer was born April
27th, 1820, at the height
of British industrialism.
He was educated at home
in mathematics, natural
science, history and
English, among some
other languages.
Spencer’s Life

Born into a family of the British aristocracy
 He was educated at home in mathematics, natural
science, history and English, among some other
languages.
 Spencer was sickly in his youth, all eight of his
other siblings dying at a young age. His
constitution remained weak throughout his life,
and he would later suffer from nervous
breakdowns which he never recovered from, and
he wandered about London never in a complete
state of good health.
Works and Influences

System of Synthetic Philosophy (1862-93),
which brought together biology, psychology,
sociology, and ethics.
 Spencer was undoubtedly strongly influenced by
both the demographer Thomas Robert Malthus
and the laissez-faire economist Adam Smith.
 Rejected many of Comte’s ideas concerning social
reform that was human induced.
 To Spencer, “Nature determines EVERYTHING”
Spencer’s Life cont’d.

He suffered from chronic insomnia, could only
work a few hours a day, and used fairly substantial
amounts of opium.
 He experienced a strange sensation in his head
which he called "the mischief", and was known for
eccentricities like the wearing of ear-plugs to
avoid over-excitement, especially when he could
not hold his ground in an argument.
Spencer’s Career

Spencer became the sub-editor of The
Economist in 1848, then (and still!) an
important financial weekly for the uppermiddle class.
 His book Social Statics was published in
1851 to great acclaim, but his quietly
influential Principles Of Psychology
released in 1855 met with much criticism.
Career cont’d.

Although one of the most influential figures
in sociology and psychology, Spencer was
overshadowed because of his somewhat
controversial ideas.
 His theory of evolution actually preceded
Charles Darwin's, when he wrote The
Developmental Hypothesis in 1852, 7 years
before Darwin's Origin Of Species (1859)!
Spencer’s Influence

His theory was not taken into serious
consideration largely because of a lack of an
effective theoretical system for natural selection.
 Nevertheless, it was Spencer and not Darwin who
first popularized the term "Evolution", and few
people outside the field realize that the oft-used
phrase "survival of the fittest" was actually coined
by Spencer!
Influences cont’d.

His evolutionary stance led to his most famous
idea, "Social Darwinism”
 It influenced early evolutionary economists like
Thorstein Veblen, as well as the members of the
American apologist school like William Graham
Sumner.
 He projected his theory of biological evolution
onto a social plane, emphasizing the importance of
organic analogy, i.e. the similarities between
Organism and State.
Influences cont’d.

He saw evolution as the change from a
homogeneous condition that was innately
unstable, to a heterogeneous and stable one.
 Spencer's last years were characterized by a
collapse of his initial optimism, replaced instead
by a pessimism regarding the future of mankind.
 He died in 1903, and is buried at Highgate
Cemetery in London near George Eliot and Karl
Marx.
According to Spencer…

"EVOLUTION IS AN INTEGRATION OF
MATTER AND CONCOMITANT
DISSIPATION OF MOTION; DURING
WHICH MATTER PASSES FROM AN
INDEFINITE, INCOHERENT
HOMOGENEITY TO A DEFINITE,
COHERENT HETEROGENEITY; AND
DURING WHICH THE RETAINED MOTION
UNDERGOES A PARALLEL
TRANSFORMATION."
The Organic Analysis
1.
2.
3.
Both society and organism grow during
most of their existence; baby to adult,
town to city.
As they grow, they become increasingly
complex.
The progressive differentiation of
structure is also accompanied by
progressive differentiation of function.
Differences in Society and
Organism
1.
2.
The parts of an organism form a concrete
whole, whereas different areas of society
are free and relatively dispersed.
Parts of the organism invariably exist to
benefit the whole (tautological), whereas
in society, the whole exists merely for the
benefit of the individual.
The Nature of Social Evolution
Societies move from simple structures to various
levels of compound structures.
 Simple: consists of separate families.
 Compound: consists of families organized into
clans.
 Doubly Compound: Clans are organized into
tribes.
 Trebly Compound: Tribes are further organized
into nations.
Thus…
An increase in size of the society results in
increase in structure, which in turn
produces differences in power and roles of
the members. Different members or
groups of members also start to play
different, specialized roles.
And as a result…
There is a movement from a military to an industrial
society.
 At the beginning, society is characterized by the
compulsory cooperation of its members -- the
military society.
 The industrial society is characterized by the
voluntary cooperation of its members.
 The highest order is called the Ethical State,
where common resources may be used to perfect
the human character.
Military to Industrial Society
MILITARY TO INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY:
A. MILITARY CHARACTERIZED BY
COMPULSORY COOPERATION OF
MEMBERS
B. INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY CHARACTERIZED
BY VOLUNTARY COOPERATION
C. THE FINAL STAGE, RESOURCES MAY BE
USED TO PERFECT HUMAN CHARACTER,
- ETHICAL STATE
Evolution of Conflict
BETWEEN GROUPS, CLASSES, AND
SOCIETIES THERE IS AN
EQUILIBRATION OF ENERGY;
 THIS TAKES THE FORM OF
STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE;


AND CONFLICT BECOMES A
HABITUAL ACTIVITY
The Nature of Conflict and
Militarism
CONFLICT GIVES RISE TO TWO
FEARS:
 A. FEAR OF THE LIVING - LEADING
TO POLITICAL CONTROL
 B. FEAR OF THE DEAD - LEADING
TO RELIGIOUS CONTROL
 AS A RESULT OF THESE
CONTROLS, CONFLICT BECOMES
MILITARISM

Spencer’s Four Processes
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AS A RESULT OF THIS FOCUS AND USE
OF ORGANIC ANALOGY, SPENCER
CONCERNS HIMSELF WITH FOUR
PROCESSES OR MAJOR CONCEPTS
1. GROWTH
2. DIFFERENTIATION
3. INTEGRATION
4. ADAPTATION
Result of Processes…
THE MOVEMENT THROUGH THE
FOUR PROCESSES IS ALSO
MOVEMENT (EVOLUTION)
TOWARDS GREATER PEACE AND
HARMONY IN HUMAN SOCIETY
 THIS WAS SPENCER’S GOAL (HOPE)
 ACCORDING TO SPENCER, “ALL
CHANGE IS PROGRESS”

Final Ideas…
Spencer claimed that knowledge was of
two kinds:
 (1) knowledge gained by the individual,
and
 (2) knowledge gained by the race. He
said that intuition, or knowledge
learned unconsciously, was the
inherited knowledge or experience of
the race.
 He also believed that there is a basic
and final reality beyond our knowledge,
which he called the Unknowable.

In Summary…

Herbert Spencer (18201903) was thinking about ideas of
evolution and progress before Charles Darwin published
The Origin of Species (1859). Nonetheless, his ideas
received a major boost from Darwin's theories and the
general application of ideas such as "adaptation" and
"survival of the fittest" to social thought is known as "Social
Darwinism". It would be possible to argue that human
evolution showed the benefits of cooperation and
community. Spencer, and Social Darwinists after him took
another view. He believed that society was evolving toward
increasing freedom for individuals; and so held that
government intervention, ought to be minimal in social and
political life (a direct challenge to Comte).